Saturday, August 30, 2008

We flew to Philly yesterday, where we joined T's brother, my mom, and our great friends Pat and Linda for a laughter- and politics-filled conversation about the week T and I have had. It was a great ending to an incredible week.

I'll recap some of the things that happened on Thursday before they flit away. I'll be glad to discuss any of this any time with anyone. I can't imagine getting tired to discussing what it was like to be a part of history.

The Thursday breakfast included an unscheduled speaker, General Merrill McPeak, who ran the organization "Vets for Bush" in Oregon. He attended war college with McCain, and as Chief of Staff for the Air Force, worked closely with him for years.

He spoke with that kind of quiet authority that guys like that have. When he talked about mobilizing the vet vote for Bush, he said, "So I'm the guy who's fault it is." When he talked about Obama, he described him as "scary smart." He also mentioned being on the receiving end of McCain's famous hothead temper many times, with conversations he had to "hold the phone out here to listen."

He evidently coined the "No Drama Obama" label, too, and talked about how he wants to see someone with that disposition in the role of Commander-in-Chief. He talked about the famous 3 a.m. phone call, and how Obama will figure out all the elements of what's going on before making a big decision--and that's exactly what we need in the world right now, with our military stretched to the brink. He compared the reaction of the two men in the Georgia situation, and how quickly McCain used a Cold War strategy of enemies vs. allies: "We are all Georgian." "Who's we?" the general said. Because, he said, we don't have troops or the European allies to enter into a fight with Russia at this point in our history.

When it comes to the Mile High stadium event, first of all: While Obama's speech was amazing (I cried with emotion at one point), the mechanics of getting 80,000 people into an event like that was un-fun.

We took the train in because only delegates were allowed on the buses, and I didn't want to abandon T to the chaos. The train was a riot, because all these Denver folks were decked out and ready for the big show. It's amazing the diversity (and by that, I mean the pro-Pentagon white woman who was also pro-Obama next to me on the train) of his support. The announcer came on and explained that they were stopping the train one stop before Invesco...we would have to walk an entire train stop's distance to get there.

So we all piled out, and thousands of people were in every direction with no real idea of where was the right way to go. T and I headed up over the bridge just to have some sense of forward motion, and we ran into a protest that was part pot legalization but mostly the no-war-with-Iran and no-torture folks. They all looked like the WTO people--same bike-messenger look to the young people, who had "counter-delegate" stickers on.

We were walking on this bridge with a low concrete divider between us (heading to see Obama) and the protesters. The protesters were sort of bored, and started shouting "off of the sidewalk, into the streets." T got sort of nervous at this point, since these kids were directing all this at us. I started shouting back (smiling), "I agree with you! No war with Iran!"

That made them shout louder.

So I hopped over the division, and flashed them all the peace sign. A huge cheer went up.

T will post pictures of the lines to get in, but basically, that's where we separated. She wound up waiting 3 hours to get in, and it took me about 90 minutes, even with the delegate entrance, which was obviously a lot shorter. Other delegates weren't as aggressive about asking everyone who looked official about the delegate line, so they got stuck too, and missed a lot of it.

On the floor, lots of people snuck in their partners, which sort of bummed me out. The previous day's badge had a silver star on it, and Thursday's had a gold. In the sun, the people scanning the tickets couldn't really make it out that well, and people used that to their advantage. There was jockeying over seats. It wasn't everyone's best few hours, let's put it that way. I actually didn't want to blog from the floor because it got so crowded as to be scary, and there was a point where when we left to use the media porta-potties (where we saw the entire cast of the Today show, pretty much, include Campbell Brown who was behind me in line), the cops kept us off the floor. I wasn't sure I'd get back to my seat.

But in the end, by about 6:30, both T and I were in the stadium and in our seats. Luckily, I happened to have a protein bar with me (that has pretty much been my dinner every night).

When Stevie Wonder took the stage, most of the Washington delegation (who has been prone to dance in the aisles in general) had a huge dance party. (I mean, if you can't get down on the night that Barack Obama accepts the presidential nomination--while Stevie Wonder is like 75' away playing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered," you are seriously too uptight for your own good.)

As a hilarious and unexpected side note: Governor Chris Gregoire joined in. My contribution: I started a chant of "Go Gregoire! Go Gregoire!" that everyone picked up. Not to get too philosophical, but I feel like this is the kind of thing that a new generation and Barack Obama are bringing into politics at all levels: that you don't have to be an uptight politician all the damn time. That you can be an actual person, and not get skewered for it. (Annie from the Slog has photos here.)

By the time Obama's life story video came on, there was a hush over the stadium. The enormity of it is something I can't really write about with any eloquence, so I won't really try. I'm sure everyone who watched it had a similar experience. The best way I can sum it up is with that Erykah Badu quote that started this post.

When I was at Mount Holyoke, there was a really unpleasant woman who's great-grandfather had donated the money for one of the dorms. So her last name was literally on her dorm. As a child of a single mother--just like Barack Obama, which was one of the first things that drew me to him--I knew I'd never have my name on a building, that there are the kind of people in America who do, and then there are the rest of us, who basically don't count.

But with Barack Obama, we have for the first time someone like that, who no one would have ever thought would have their name on a building. At the end of the speech, after it was all over and Michelle and his girls were on the stage with him, it looked like the enormity of what he had done had hit him, too.

Here is someone willing to get beyond the partisanship that has ripped America apart, who can reframe things like gay rights in a way that everyone can understand (and when he included us--me and T--by mentioning that we should be able to visit each other in the hospital, it was a moment I have waited for my entire life). He will get us out of these holes we have created for ourselves, because he is, as that general said, scary smart. He's been an outsider (black in a white world, but raised by white people who love him), and he knows how that feels. In every way that counts, he's one of us, and that will inform every decision he ever makes, and every policy he helps create.

Some people who are reading this blog voted for me as a delegate, and that's why I was able to go, and why I worked so hard while I was there to gather up all the info I could, treating it like a political boot camp to help us win on November 4.

T will post some more photos (she has great ones from being up that high). But the last thing I want to say in this blog is to those people whose caucus vote gave me the honor of casting a vote in the roll call for all of us for Obama: Thank you.

We are at the airport now (along with everyone who ever lived) so we'll blog more tomorrow.

Ok, so the speech: wow. He hit it out of the park.

The actual experience of being at the field was incredibly stressful, and T will have more to say about that, but suffice to say that that shouldn't overshadow the hugeness of what we accomplished that came to fruition last night.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

OK, so I was blogging so fast and furious during the roll call (which was seriously the most exciting time of the convention so far), my phone got really hot. Like, scary hot. But I couldn't stop myself from sending all those pics in realtime. But then my iPhone crashed, and wanted to be connected to my laptop (which I didn't bring). Eep! I did a hard restart, though, and all seems to be forgiven for tonight. I had to reinstall cellspin, though, so if you're not seeing posts from me, it's because my iPhone wants me to stop blogging and just watch the convention already.

But I'll catch up on some stuff that happened last night now.Celeb spotting: Charlie Rose, former governor Gray Davis, Mike Dukakis (who knew he was still around?) and, um, the Daily Show guys. I was a total fangirl with them and asked for a photo, because, c'mon, if you see Rob Riggle, Aasif Mandvi and Larry Wilmore just standing around waiting to film, aren't you going to ask them for a photo? There's another photo with me in it (Larry offered to take a new one!), but you'll have to email me to see that baby. :)

We just had our final delegation breakfast, and I'm going to blog about one of the speakers in a minute. But the excitement is so high because of Mile High stadium.

Stevie Wonder will play, which will be amazing. But I think there was something in the water growing up, because I'm most excited about the Jersey boys representing: Bruce Springsteen and, of course, the Bon of Jon. (T and her bro can confirm that whenever we play Rock Band together, I am always making them play the Bon Jovi.)

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

The roll call was incredible and emotional. People were just openly weeping to see this long, hard slog come to such a graceful ending. We knew ahead of time that Hillary Clinton was going to come in to end the vote based on the fact that the New York delegation wasn't on the floor, and the number of cameramen pointed towards an emergency exit made it obvious where she would be entering from.

Here's my two second summary of the last two days: The Clintons did everything anyone could ask of them.

After Hillary's graceful exit was over, they played "Love Train" (let's not get started talking about the music, like--weirdly--"Addicted to Love" after President Clinton spoke). We all joined hands because the song told us to, and we were in some kind of hypnotic state. I'm pretty sure there will be photos of me somewhere holding hands on the love train, but that's all right. I was seriously feeling it.

Afterwards, I turned around and talked to a woman from the Clinton delegation from our state. She was definitely having a hard time, and I basically just listened to her. She talked about how arrogant so many Clinton people have found Obama, and I didn't argue. I didn't need to any more--he is the nominee. I asked her if she was going to vote for him, and work for him, and she said, "Like the Clintons, I'm a Democrat first and foremost, so of course." I commended her so much on seeing the big picture, and we talked about some of the factions within her delegation.

Later on, I wound up sitting with her, and just chatting in general. I really appreciated her perspective, even if I didn't agree with all of it. I think she probably felt the same, and liked being listened to. On the way out, she gave me the bracelet in this picture.

Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not really a flag-star-bracelet kind of girl. But I was deeply touched by this gift. We need to be united, and I'm not just talking about Democrats--all of us, as Americans, who want to see this boat turned around. And this bracelet is the manifestation of that for me, tonight. I so appreciate it, and the sentiment of kindness behind it.

At the second GLBT caucus, Howard Dean spoke, and told us to talk to 25 people three times about what the Democrats have to offer this year, and how we can help change this country into what it should be. Then Barney Frank spoke, and with much more political detail than at the lunch yesterday.

I'll admit, I was dumbfounded. But he made a good point: Who else would know more about what it's like to be dismissed and discriminated against?

He also talked about gay people (and, frankly, I assume mostly rich white gay men) who vote Republican. His answer to that was this: We know that only the Democratic party is interested in equality for the GLBT community. We know this by their votes. Every gay person was 15 once, and was made miserable by prejudice. How can any gay person walk away from that part of ourselves, and subject today's 15-year-olds to that same world?

This election, he said, is the fight of our lives. If Barack Obama gets elected, we have the chance for real, lasting legal equality. Without it, we have a Supreme Court with six or more Scalito judges.

Ok, so Gavin definitely seems like a Ken doll/Mitt Romney type, but I like what he's saying. Could we make it a requirement that if you want to get elected to something, you have to prove that you read the Constitution? Because it's pretty clear that even with all his hair gel, he has.

At the GLBT caucus, listening to Nancy Wohlforth from the AFL-CIO. It's funny, because work opportunities, labor organizing and economic justice are such a huge part of all the gay stuff I've been going to, and yet someone posted a snarky comment about the gays on that Slog post.

In fact, In a small but nice touch, Barney Frank had all the attendees give a round if applause of thanks to the servers delivering food in the hall. Does anyone think that happens at Republican conventions?

Maybe that person didn't follow it because Barney Frank sounds like a Muppet.

Admittedly, I've seen a lot more cops than protesters. In traffic yesterday, I saw a police van with SWAT members in a formation on the OUTSIDE of the van, sort of standing up in line holding on to the sides. It was weird and disturbing.

I wrote the Re-Create 68 folks an email a few weeks back, but never got a reply. I told them I was willing to meet with them, if they wanted.

After all, I'm a sucker for giant puppets of protest. A couple of years ago, Bread & Puppet came to the Bellevue Arts Museum, and I was so excited, because one summer when I lived in Massachusetts, I went to their summer festival. I bought art from the Cheap Art Bus that I still have that says: Become your own hero.

I talked my friend Allen into going to the Bellevue art show with his two daughters, and they were less than thrilled. Giant puppets to them meant something like this, rather than this. I couldn't say I blamed them.

At the delegation breakfast, Dwight was talking about the protesters, and asked all the delegates who participated in WTO protests to raise their hands. Lots of hands went up. Again: change is everywhere here. We have a truly progressive candidate for the first time since I've been alive and aware of what a president was. The fact that all of us who have never done anything like this before are here is the manifestation of that change.

Jim McDermott is talking about a 1935 tax law. Most of us have had > 6 hours sleep. It's not exactly a barn burning speech.

Luckily, Amy Klobuchar was here earlier and was awesome. Her 13-year-old is so excited about this election, she sent a letter from camp: "I found bugs in my bunk. No ticks yet. How is Barack doing?"

She made similar points, but with humor. Along these lines, there's a real old guard and new school thing going on at this convention. You can tell some of the veteran Democrats are a little freaked out. But this is the bottom-up, grassroots-driven work that Obama is the engine for. It's happening at the DNC, and the change even in the Democratic party is visible at this convention

The Today Show had a piece this morning highlighting Obama's online support among voters who meet up and organize through my.barackobama.com -- all the delegates call the site "MyBO" which I find very cute and millennial.

Here's a hanger-on's perspective: these delegates are working unbelievably hard. I drove some of them home last night after the big convention session, and they were just totally worn out after 15 hours of meetings, walking, speeches, walking, small talk, walking, blistering heat, and walking. (The delegate gift bag included a pedometer, no joke.)

Imagine having to do that from 7am to 10pm every day, and to keep smiling, stay on message, and engage in smart conversations the whole time. They never know when or by whom they will be interviewed.

I'm so proud that Washington Democrats elected this strong and smart group of delegates to represent us. Our delegates rock!

At the delegation breakfast this morning, New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin stopped by. Now, I know he made mistakes. But mistakes are different than the cold indifference of a flyover or shoe-shopping at Ferragamo while an entire US city suffers.

I live in an earthquake zone. We have Red Cross emergency kits in the trunk of our cars. But if the big one comes, we will need a functional federal government.

P.S. This photo is from Bush celebrating McCain's birthday in Arizona in August 2005 while floods still ravaged New Orleans.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

So, day two down, two more to go. Seems like a good time for some reflection.

T and I survived the Slog. I told Annie that I think the Slog can be snarky and downright scary, so that might have helped. She was gentle with us. Woo hoo! There was much joking about the unfortunate shade of orange of our salad dressing, so that also probably helped in a clutch.

The Emily's List meeting (right after) with Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama was inspiring, and I have to say, was a great pre-indication of the speech she gave tonight.

But so was Barbara Mikulski, who I have to admit, I hadn't heard of before. She introduced Hillary Clinton before her Emily's List speech. Barbara was about as tall as the podium, with painted on eyebrows, and she seemed like one tough old broad (and that's a total compliment).Today, of course, was the anniversary of the vote for women (which Barbara talked about), and I wouldn't be much of an Mount Holyoker if I wasn't into that, especially considering that showing love for the suffragettes was part of my college graduation ceremony. I was also amused when Barbara Mikulski had this good line: "When I was running for the senate, I was told: 'you don't look the part.' I told them: 'This is what the part looks like.'"

Michelle was also great, talking about how women should never settle. "We know we can do better, and make the world over as it should be." Righteous.

So all in all, a good day to be of the lady variety here at Dem Con. But on a weird side note, T mentioned that some people have said stuff like: "I bet J will want to run for office or something after this."

Um, no.

OK, slight diversion: Whenever I see the gays in the New York Times wedding section, I'm always like: "Huh. They are our astronauts." Because for a while, to be a gay couple pictured in the section they all seemed so accomplished, it was absurd. Like, all of them had eight post-graduate degrees each in various sciences and humanities before starting their own non-profit while running a start-up company. I called this the Sydney Poiter era, where you had to be really, really good in order to wedge that toe in the door and make yourself acceptable to the mainstream.

So, you know, I'm happy to put a face on gay support for Obama for a day. That's cool. I'm glad to do that.

But I also deeply know that this is not about me. As in, at all. I'm here because an awesome group of volunteers is standing with me, and working their butts off while I'm here. (Shout out to Rose, Andy, Michelle, Nick, Amy and the 43rd crew!)

So, again, to repeat: Fun to be here, but it's not about me. At all. I'm here to do a job: Get. Obama. Elected.

After that's done, I'll go back to my normal life, thankyouverymuch. There are plenty of delegates here for what feels like personal reasons, and frankly, I sort of want to gently remind them that although it's awesome to be on the camera (and makes everyone's moms happy), it is so, so not about us.

We have to get Guantanamo Bay closed for good (and all the secret prisons open in all of our names). We have have to restore our standing in the world. Obama will have a lot of work to do: the wars, the economy, the housing crisis, and larger issues of justice and equality. (Note: McCain voted against an equal pay bill this year. Who exactly is against equal pay for equal work?!?)

To quote Michelle today: "We need the world as it is and the world as it should be to be one in the same." That's why all of us are here, and it's why there will be so much damn work to do once I get home.

I just want to say something about Ron. He's the oldest member of our delegation. He was sent to a camp as a Japanese American during World War II. He has voted Republican every election, because FDR signed the order to send him to the camp. This year, he switched for Barack Obama.

He's also a member of Grandparents for Obama and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. I'm so glad he's on our delegate team.

So I took the wrong stairway to get down to the floor last night (I actually missed most of the earlier speeches because of trying to get alternates sorted out--a sort of big headache), and wound up in celeb alley.

I was walking down the up side of the stairs when all of a sudden, I figured out why no one was on that side: Bill Richardson had just arrived, and about a billion cameras were pointed on him on the other side of the steps!

In short order soon after, I passed Susan Sarandon and Toby from the West Wing (which was very meta--like, are you an adviser in real life, too, dude?). I saw Kucinich (and his tall wife) and Joe Biden in the hall, too, along with Maria Shriver. T was up in the MSNBC section, so I'll let her post on all her sitings, but it was definitely wild. There were a lot of, "hey, it's that reporter guy" moments.

But one of the highlights was seeing the entire Daily Show cast getting ready to film a segment. T and I might be in the background of one of their interviews, squealing like tiny schoolgirls.

We're on our way to two more back-to-back events before the convention (and functioning on 4 hours sleep), so I'll write more coherently about Michelle and Ted Kennedy's speech soon.

But here's something I just had to include. Denver magazine has a cover story interview with the Obamas, where they each answer the same questions. Here are my favorites.

Question: People have compared your style to Jackie O. How would you describe your style?

Answer from Michelle Obama: I've always loved clothes, and to be compared to Jackie O--well, it's very flattering...I work with a great designer in Chicago, but for the most part, I'm still shopping at places like J. Crew, The Gap and H&M.

H&M in the house, y'all!

And now some cuteness from the Senator, which I think everyone saw on display last night during the video feed:

Question: Everyone sees you as a potential Commander-in-Chief, but you're a husband and partner, too. We know that women have their faults--care to share one annoying thing that Michelle does--on or off the campaign trail?

Answer from Barack Obama: Michelle has no faults and does nothing annoying. It took me 15 years to understand that, but I am absolutely clear about it now.

Monday, August 25, 2008

So a camera guy is spending lots of time with us in Washington State because we are literally cheering everything. Nick is dancing with Suzi in a swing step. Funny hats are on display. We scream at the top of our lungs at every opportunity, and Vini keeps pulling me up to dance to "Celebration," even though it reminds me of every bar mitzvah I've ever been to.

It didn't seem like a big deal to have a camera on me, since I guess I sort of assumed it would be local. (I did a radio interview for KIRO, which is why that was in my head. I stuck to the talking points pretty well, so I doubt I'll be on.) But then it seems like it was on every single station, since friends have written with "I saw you on CNN! I saw you on MSNBC! I saw you on C-SPAN" messages. I'll be honest: that's awesome!

Outside the convention center, we just saw Robert Kennedy Jr on the street. Wearing brown shorts and some kind if pub-type T shirt, he looked just like a regular Seattle dood. (You know he's got a carabiner on him somewhere.)

We saw Tom Brokaw signing books on the way in.

T and I are at the GLBT caucus now. The speaker just explained that we have 375 gay delegates here--in 1972 (my birth year) there were five. Five!

I go to a lot of science fiction conventions, so this whole experience is vaguely familiar. When one attends a sci fi con without a badge, it's called "ghosting," so I guess I am ghosting this con. That's certainly not the most egregious verb here. This morning, I overheard a gentleman ask, "Where do I credential?"

But I hereby declare the best new verb: DEAN. As in... OMG OMG OMG, I am totally DEANING right now LOOK it's HOWARD DEAN!!!

Despite how... ordinary... the scene appears to be, I assure you, Howard Dean was awesome. There were several standing ovations. And this is just the delegates' breakfast meeting. Tonight at the convention hall, the big-name speeches begin. I have entered the daily guest lottery to see if I can get in. Fingers crossed, because it is Michelle Obama's night!

We saw a superdelegate from Washington state last night on the elevator. We talked about groceries. Of course, this is no big deal to Jen, who talks to superdels all the time, but it was my first one. So our road trip wildlife list now includes: elk, bison, deer, osprey, red-tailed hawk, wolf, prairie dog, and Democratic superdelegate!

I woke up before the alarm today. I also forgot it was my birthday today! (T reminded me.)

To say I'm excited would be a bit of an understatement. We have a 7 am breakfast meeting, and, of course, we go until the last speech is done at 8. Long day to be sure, and I'm not really sure when the eating is supposed to happen in all this.

Seriously, how excited do you have to be to forget it's your birthday? Normally, I treat mine as a multi-day event, similar to hanukkah, and insist everyone around me do the same. But not this year.

Also, I got an invite to attend the youth caucus. But as of today, I'm aged out of it. Thanks for the birthday present, DNC.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

We're in for the night, after a fun day of seeing where Therese grew up (including her old elementary school) and getting a fantastic dinner in Boulder. (I, of course, brought a guidebook.)

Tonight, I feel like it's the night before the first day of school. Remember that feeling? Sort of checking to make sure you had sharpened pencils in your pencil case? (Or maybe that was just me.) I want to make sure I'm in the right place at the right time. I want to do a good job, and I want to come back with useful information to share with everyone at home. At the very least, I don't want to be the person running after the bus as it belches its way down the street with all the other delegates on board. (I know: this isn't really how it will work, but you get the idea.)I have a mixed record on first days, sort of like I have a mixed record on school photos (this is not a picture of me to the right, but it has a similar feel, except to my mom, who thought I looked cute throughout). Some years, not so bad. Other years, the pics involved a bolo tie (I was having a 4th-grade Annie Oakley phase) or wearing my sweater backwards (you can see the label if you squint closely). My extended family still has these pics as incriminating evidence.

Then again, with thousands upon thousands of delegates here, it's not about me. I find that comforting. I just have to put my butt in the chair at the right time and do the votes that Obama wants me to do.

It's probably just the excitement of being around all these cool people that has me all wound up.

And speaking of that, I ran into someone I knew from Seattle in Boulder! If you've snagged tickets to the big speech or will be here, drop me a line, would ja? My schedule is pretty packed, but still, it would be great to know you're in town.

P.S. The comment on this post made me laugh out loud. It's worth the click.